Fence-gate.



PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905.

FENCE GATE APPLICATION FILED APR. 3, 1905.

UNITED STATES Patented June 27, 1905i. i

PATENT O EIcE.

ASA L. WESTON, NORTH DOVER, OHIO.

. FENCE-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 793,485, dated June 27,1905.

' Application filed Apri13, 1905. Serial at. 253,609.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AsA L. WEs'roN, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of North Dover. county of Ou'yahoga, State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Grates,- of whichI hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same.

The objects of the invention are to provide means for rehanging oldgates or for hanging new gates so that they can either be swung open orshut upon hinge-pintles or can be made to slide open and shut bylongitudinal movement.

A further object is to provide reversible appliances for supporting andguiding the gate whereby they can be adapted for attachment .to any gateand to a gate opening at either end and in either direction. They canalso be applied to practically all gates of whatsoever height or length,thus affording a high degree of efiiciency and practicability in thegate.

I accomplish these objects by means of the reversible devices and thedetails of construction and combination and arrangement of parts, ashereinafter described, shown in the accompanying drawings, andspecifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the gate,showing the mode of hanging the same by means of an inclined strut andtension-rod and showing the manner of movably attaching the gate theretofor free longitudinal movement. Fig. Qis atransverse enlarged sectionthrough friction-roller and hanger attached-to the upper end of thestrut. Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the friction-roller andhanger attached to the lower end of strut. Fig. 4. is an enlarged viewof lower hinge-pintle and corresponding lower corner of the gate. Fig. 5is a plan view of the upper hinged corner of the gate. Fig. 6 is atransverse section thereof, Fig. 1; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view ofthe upper hinge connections and keeper which prevents the upper edge ofthe gate from falling outward.

In the views, 1 is the gate; 2, the gate-posts.

3 is a diagonal strut which supports the gate and upon which the gate ispractically balanced, the upper portion of the strut supporting andbalancing the gate when nearly closed and the lower portion of the strutsupporting and balancing the gate when drawn half-way out and swung atright angles to the fence, as is the customary position in the use ofcombined sliding and swinging gates. A tension-rod 4 connects the outerend of this strut with the hinge connections at the upper edge of thegate, thus making the strut perfectly rigid and adding greatly to itsstrength. The hinge connections for the upper hinge are somewhatpeculiar and comprise the reversible tie-plate 5, provided with anopening 6 at each end, in one or the other of which the eye or hook 7 atone end of the tensionrod is inserted. In the center of this plate isshown a larger opening 8, in which the pintlerod P is inserted. Toprevent the end of the gate nearest the hinge-post from falling outward,a hook or keeper 9 is secured to one side of the tie-plate and passesover the upper rail 10 of the gate, as seen in Figs. 1, 5, and 6. Thishook serves also as a convenient guide to keep the upper edge of thegate in true alinement, and the tension upon the tie-plate prevents theedges of the hook from binding on the upper rail. The mode of connectingthe upper edge of the gate slidably with the upper edge of the strut isshown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, where 11 is a metal band passing overtheupper rail and 12 is a roller placed between the sides of the band toengage with the lower edge of the rail. This band is secured, by meansof bolts, to the upper end of the strut, and a plate 13, secured to theouter face of the strut, extends above it and is pierced for thereception of the end of the tension-rod 5. A nut 14 upon the threadedend of this rod serves for adjustment thereof. The lower hinge is formedby means of a pintle-rod P, which is inserted in the lower face of thestrut and through a metal plate 15. The adjacent lower rail of the gateis held closely against the strut by means of a metal band 16, bentaround it, between the lower sides of which is inserted the roller 17,upon which the rail rests. The plate through which the pintle P passesis turned downward and secured to the band 16 by means of the extendedroller-pin 18. To prevent the gate from lifting off from the pintle, asmall plate 19 is secured below for that purpose. Since it is oftendesirable to lift the front end of the gate to avoid snow or otherobstructions, the bolt 20, which secures the upper end of the band 16 t0the strut, is used as a pivot upon which the gate can be raised. Tofacilitate this action, the pintle-hole 21 is cut away in the rear atthe upper end, as shown in Fig. 4:. It will readily be seen that allthese parts are reversible and that the gate can be set to open oneither of the posts or from either end. This makes it possible to alterover old gates of the common sort to combined swinging and sliding gatesand has the further advantage that the parts being simple andinexpensive any one of ordinary intelligence can put them together.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a gate and hingepost therefor, of a diagonalstrut to the upper end of which the gate is slidably secured, a U-shapedhanger-plate secured to said strut at the lower end and passing over thesides of the lower rail of the gate to a plate underneath said strutsecured to said U-shaped plate, a pintle extending through said lowerplate into said strut, and secured to said post, the recess for saidpintle in the strut being cut away to permit of raising the front end ofthe gate, and one of the fastening-bolts for the U-shaped plate, forminga pivot on which the gate can be raised vertically, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination witha gate and hingepost therefor, of a diagonalstrut hinged to the gate at its lower end, means for slidably supportingthe gate upon the upper end of the strut, consisting of a U-shapedhanger secured to said strut and passing over the upper rail of thegate, a roller pivoted between the sides thereof, on which the upperrail of the gate rests, a tension-rod, and means for adjustablyconnecting the same with the upper end of the strut, an upperhingc-pintle, a

reversible tie-plate provided with a central opening in which saidpintle'is inserted, and with an opening in each end, in one of which theinner end of the tension-rod is secured,

and a hooked band or keeper secured to said tie-plate, substantially asdescribed.

3. In combination with a gate and post, a diagonal strut hinged to thelower end of the post, a hanger secured to the upper end of the strut, aroller therein on which the upper rail of the gate is slidably mounted,a tension-rod adjustably secured to the upper end of the strut, an upperhinge-pintlc, a tie-plate mounted thereon, a hooked extremity of thetensionrod secured to said tie-plate, and a hooked keeper secured tosaid tie-plate and passing over the upper rail of the gate, whereby theupper edge of the gate is prevented from falling outward, substantiallyas described.

4. The combination with a gate and post, of supporting means, consistingof a diagonal strut and tension rod, means for slidably mounting theupper and lower rails of the gate on said strut, and means for hingingthe lower end of the strut to the said post, and

the inner end of said tension-rod to said post, the means for hingingsaid rod to the said post comprising a pintle-rod, a reversibletie-plate thereon, the inner end of the rod being secured to one end ofthe tie-plate, and a keeper secured to the tie-plate and passing overone of the rails of the gate, substantially as de scribed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand this 6th day of March, 1905.

ASA L. WESTON. Witnesses:

GEO. S. COLE, WM. M. MONROE.

